U.S. patent application number 15/269845 was filed with the patent office on 2018-03-22 for systems and methods for managing resource reservations.
The applicant listed for this patent is Facebook, Inc.. Invention is credited to Tommy Yong Jia Cheang, Konrad Horst Michels, Tomasz Odrobny, Amanda Lynn Searles, Kristopher Ryan Szeto, Edward Francis Wolf.
Application Number | 20180082264 15/269845 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 61621180 |
Filed Date | 2018-03-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180082264 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Szeto; Kristopher Ryan ; et
al. |
March 22, 2018 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING RESOURCE RESERVATIONS
Abstract
Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can
determine a meeting for which at least one resource has been
reserved for a period of time, the meeting having been scheduled
through a calendaring system. A determination is made whether the
at least one resource is being used for the meeting at a time
within the period of time for which the meeting was scheduled. The
reservation for the at least one resource is canceled upon
determining that the resource is not being used for the meeting,
wherein the resource is then made available for reservation for a
different meeting.
Inventors: |
Szeto; Kristopher Ryan;
(Daly City, CA) ; Michels; Konrad Horst; (Los
Gatos, CA) ; Wolf; Edward Francis; (San Francisco,
CA) ; Odrobny; Tomasz; (Dublin, CA) ; Cheang;
Tommy Yong Jia; (Emeryville, CA) ; Searles; Amanda
Lynn; (Felton, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Facebook, Inc. |
Menlo Park |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
61621180 |
Appl. No.: |
15/269845 |
Filed: |
September 19, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/1095 20130101;
G06K 9/00362 20130101; H04L 12/1818 20130101; G06Q 10/06313
20130101; H04N 7/183 20130101; H04N 7/15 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20060101
G06Q010/10; G06Q 10/06 20060101 G06Q010/06; H04N 7/18 20060101
H04N007/18; G06K 9/00 20060101 G06K009/00 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: determining, by a
computing system, a meeting for which at least one resource has
been reserved for a period of time, the meeting having been
scheduled through a calendaring system; determining, by the
computing system, whether the at least one resource is being used
for the meeting at a time within the period of time for which the
meeting was scheduled; and causing, by the computing system, the
reservation for the at least one resource to be canceled upon
determining that the resource is not being used for the meeting,
wherein the resource is then made available for reservation for a
different meeting.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the resource
is at least one of a conference room, desk, table, meeting area, or
platform.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
whether the at least one resource is being used for the meeting
further comprises: determining, by the computing system, that no
activity is detected at the resource, the activity being determined
using at least one motion sensor that monitors resource
activity.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
whether the at least one resource is being used for the meeting
further comprises: capturing, by the computing system, one or more
images of the resource, the images being captured using at least
one imaging apparatus that is positioned to capture images of the
resource; analyzing, by the computing system, the images to
determine whether one or more individuals are present in the
images; and determining, by the computing system, that the resource
is not being used based at least in part no individuals being
detected in the images.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
whether the at least one resource is being used for the meeting
further comprises: sending, by the computing system, at least one
prompt to one or more participants of the meeting; and determining,
by the computing system, that the resource is not being used based
at least in part on no confirmation being received in response to
the prompt.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the prompt
is sent through a video conferencing system located at the
resource, a phone system located at the resource, a social
networking system, or through a messaging protocol.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
the meeting for which at least one resource has been reserved for a
period of time further comprises: determining, by the computing
system, that a calendar event that references the meeting is
present in a calendar corresponding to the resource.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing the
reservation for the at least one resource to be canceled further
comprises: causing, by the computing system, a calendar event that
references the meeting to be removed from a calendar corresponding
to the resource.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further
comprising: determining, by the computing system, that the resource
is a room; determining, by the computing system, one or more other
resources that are located in the room; and causing, by the
computing system, the reservation for the other resources to be
canceled automatically upon determining that the room is not being
used.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
whether the at least one resource is being used is performed at a
start time of the meeting, after a threshold amount of time has
elapsed since the start time of the meeting, or at specified
intervals through the period of time during which the resource is
reserved.
11. A system comprising: at least one processor; and a memory
storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one
processor, cause the system to perform: determining a meeting for
which at least one resource has been reserved for a period of time,
the meeting having been scheduled through a calendaring system;
determining whether the at least one resource is being used for the
meeting at a time within the period of time for which the meeting
was scheduled; and causing the reservation for the at least one
resource to be canceled upon determining that the resource is not
being used for the meeting, wherein the resource is then made
available for reservation for a different meeting.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the resource is at least one of
a conference room, desk, table, meeting area, or platform.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein determining whether the at
least one resource is being used for the meeting further causes the
system perform: determining that no activity is detected at the
resource, the activity being determined using at least one motion
sensor that monitors resource activity.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein determining whether the at
least one resource is being used for the meeting further causes the
system perform: capturing one or more images of the resource, the
images being captured using at least one imaging apparatus that is
positioned to capture images of the resource; analyzing the images
to determine whether one or more individuals are present in the
images; and determining that the resource is not being used based
at least in part no individuals being detected in the images.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein determining whether the at
least one resource is being used for the meeting further causes the
system perform: sending at least one prompt to one or more
participants of the meeting; and determining that the resource is
not being used based at least in part on no confirmation being
received in response to the prompt.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including
instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a
computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method
comprising: determining a meeting for which at least one resource
has been reserved for a period of time, the meeting having been
scheduled through a calendaring system; determining whether the at
least one resource is being used for the meeting at a time within
the period of time for which the meeting was scheduled; and causing
the reservation for the at least one resource to be canceled upon
determining that the resource is not being used for the meeting,
wherein the resource is then made available for reservation for a
different meeting.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the resource is at least one of a conference room,
desk, table, meeting area, or platform.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein determining whether the at least one resource is being
used for the meeting further causes the computing system perform:
determining that no activity is detected at the resource, the
activity being determined using at least one motion sensor that
monitors resource activity.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein determining whether the at least one resource is being
used for the meeting further causes the computing system perform:
capturing one or more images of the resource, the images being
captured using at least one imaging apparatus that is positioned to
capture images of the resource; analyzing the images to determine
whether one or more individuals are present in the images; and
determining that the resource is not being used based at least in
part no individuals being detected in the images.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein determining whether the at least one resource is being
used for the meeting further causes the computing system perform:
sending at least one prompt to one or more participants of the
meeting; and determining that the resource is not being used based
at least in part on no confirmation being received in response to
the prompt.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present technology relates to the field of resource
reservations. More particularly, the present technology relates to
techniques for managing resource reservations.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems)
for a wide variety of purposes. Users can use their computing
devices to, for example, interact with one another, access content,
share content, and create content. In some cases, users can use
their computing devices to reserve resources. For example, a user
may use a computing device to reserve a conference room for a
meeting over some period of time.
SUMMARY
[0003] Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include
systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media
configured to determine a meeting for which at least one resource
has been reserved for a period of time, the meeting having been
scheduled through a calendaring system. A determination is made
whether the at least one resource is being used for the meeting at
a time within the period of time for which the meeting was
scheduled. The reservation for the at least one resource is
canceled upon determining that the resource is not being used for
the meeting, wherein the resource is then made available for
reservation for a different meeting.
[0004] In an embodiment, the resource is at least one of a
conference room, desk, table, meeting area, or platform.
[0005] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to determine that no
activity is detected at the resource, the activity being determined
using at least one motion sensor that monitors resource
activity.
[0006] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to capture one or more
images of the resource, the images being captured using at least
one imaging apparatus that is positioned to capture images of the
resource, analyze the images to determine whether one or more
individuals are present in the images, and determine that the
resource is not being used based at least in part no individuals
being detected in the images.
[0007] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to send at least one prompt
to one or more participants of the meeting and determine that the
resource is not being used based at least in part on no
confirmation being received in response to the prompt.
[0008] In an embodiment, the prompt is sent through a video
conferencing system located at the resource, a phone system located
at the resource, a social networking system, or using a messaging
protocol.
[0009] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to determine that a calendar
event that references the meeting is present in a calendar
corresponding to the resource.
[0010] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to cause a calendar event
that references the meeting to be removed from a calendar
corresponding to the resource.
[0011] In an embodiment, the systems, methods, and non-transitory
computer readable media are configured to determine that the
resource is a room, determine one or more other resources that are
located in the room, and cause the reservation for the other
resources to be canceled automatically upon determining that the
room is not being used.
[0012] In an embodiment, determining whether the at least one
resource is being used is performed at a start time of the meeting,
after a threshold amount of time has elapsed since the start time
of the meeting, or at specified intervals through the period of
time during which the resource is reserved.
[0013] It should be appreciated that many other features,
applications, embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed
technology will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from
the following detailed description. Additional and/or alternative
implementations of the structures, systems, non-transitory computer
readable media, and methods described herein can be employed
without departing from the principles of the disclosed
technology.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an example
calendar module configured to manage resource reservations,
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a meeting cleanup module
configured to release unused resources, according to an embodiment
of the present disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a meeting activity module,
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram for managing
resource reservations, according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for managing resource
reservations, according to various embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system
including an example social networking system that can be utilized
in various scenarios, according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or
computing device that can be utilized in various scenarios,
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0021] The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed
technology for purposes of illustration only, wherein the figures
use like reference numerals to identify like elements. One skilled
in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion
that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods
illustrated in the figures can be employed without departing from
the principles of the disclosed technology described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Approaches for Managing Resource Reservations
[0022] Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems)
for a wide variety of purposes. Users can use their computing
devices to, for example, interact with one another, access content,
share content, and create content. In some instances, a meeting
organizer may use a software application running on a computing
device to create, or schedule, meetings through a calendaring
system. For example, when creating the meeting, the user can
provide the names (e.g., e-mail addresses) of any attendees to be
invited to the meeting, the time period during which the meeting
will occur, dial-in information for invitees that will be
teleconferencing, and one or more locations at which the meeting
will be held. The user can also request, or select, resources
(e.g., one or more conference rooms, desks, tables, meeting areas
or platforms, etc.) for the meeting. In general, the calendaring
system can maintain a separate calendar for each resource that can
be requested through the calendaring system. Such calendars can
assist the calendaring system, and also users of the calendaring
system, to determine whether a particular resource is available for
reservation. In one example, the calendaring system may receive a
meeting request for reserving a conference room for a particular
time period. In this example, the calendaring system is able to
determine whether the conference room is available for the
particular time period by accessing the calendar corresponding to
the conference room. Naturally, other ways of implementing the
calendaring system are possible. For example, a calendaring system
may maintain reservation data that can be queried to determine
whether meetings have been scheduled and/or resources have been
reserved for any given time period.
[0023] Once the meeting has been created, the calendaring system
will typically add a calendar event that corresponds to the meeting
in the calendar of the meeting organizer. Users that were specified
as attendees of the meeting will typically receive electronic
invitations for the meeting. Once these invitations are accepted,
the calendar event will typically be inserted in the calendars of
each of the users that accepted the meeting invite. Further, the
calendaring system also adds the calendar event in the respective
calendars of any resources that were reserved when creating the
meeting. After the meeting has been created, the meeting organizer
may decide to cancel the meeting for various reasons. Generally,
the meeting organizer can cancel the meeting by requesting a
cancellation through the calendaring system. When processing the
cancellation, the calendaring system can remove the calendar event
that corresponds to the meeting from the respective calendars of
the meeting organizer, users that accepted the meeting, and of any
resources that were booked for the meeting. As a result, any
resources booked for the meeting are then made available to other
users for reservation. There may be instances, however, when the
meeting organizer intends to cancel the meeting but does not
request cancellation through the calendaring system. For example,
the meeting organizer may simply send an e-mail to the meeting
invitees indicating that the meeting has been canceled. In such
instances, since the meeting is not canceled through the
calendaring system, any resources (e.g., conference rooms) that
were booked for the meeting cannot be reserved by other users until
the time period for which the meeting was scheduled has elapsed.
Accordingly, such conventional approaches may not be effective in
addressing these and other problems arising in computer
technology.
[0024] An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes
the foregoing and other disadvantages associated with conventional
approaches specifically arising in the realm of computer
technology. In various embodiments, a computing system can
determine whether resources that were booked for meetings through
the calendaring system are indeed being utilized during their
respective scheduled meeting times. For example, the computing
system can determine whether a conference room is being utilized by
individuals based on whether motion is sensed in the conference
room during the scheduled meeting time. In another example, the
computing system can determine whether the conference room is being
used by determining that one or more individuals are present in
images that are taken from inside of the conference room. Further,
in some embodiments, the computing system can determine whether the
conference room is being used through confirmation prompts that are
sent to the meeting organizer and/or attendees. Resources that are
reserved for a meeting and that are not being used during the
scheduled meeting time can be released through the calendaring
system and, as a result, be made available to other users sooner
than the scheduled meeting end time.
[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an
example calendar module 102 configured to manage resource
reservations, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the calendar module 102 can
include a meeting scheduling module 104 and a meeting cleanup
module 106. In some instances, the example system 100 can include
at least one data store 108. The components (e.g., modules,
elements, etc.) shown in this figure and all figures herein are
exemplary only, and other implementations may include additional,
fewer, integrated, or different components. Some components may not
be shown so as not to obscure relevant details.
[0026] In some embodiments, the calendar module 102 can be
implemented, in part or in whole, as software, hardware, or any
combination thereof. In general, a module as discussed herein can
be associated with software, hardware, or any combination thereof.
In some implementations, one or more functions, tasks, and/or
operations of modules can be carried out or performed by software
routines, software processes, hardware, and/or any combination
thereof. In some cases, the calendar module 102 can be implemented,
in part or in whole, as software running on one or more computing
devices or systems, such as on a user or client computing device.
In one example, the calendar module 102 or at least a portion
thereof can be implemented as or within an application (e.g., app),
a program, or an applet, etc., running on a user computing device
or a client computing system, such as the user device 610 of FIG.
6. In another example, the calendar module 102 or at least a
portion thereof can be implemented using one or more computing
devices or systems that include one or more servers, such as
network servers or cloud servers. In some instances, the calendar
module 102 can, in part or in whole, be implemented within or
configured to operate in conjunction with a social networking
system (or service), such as the social networking system 630 of
FIG. 6.
[0027] The calendar module 102 can be configured to communicate
and/or operate with the at least one data store 108, as shown in
the example system 100. The at least one data store 108 can be
configured to store and maintain various types of meeting data. For
example, the data store 108 can store information describing
meetings that were scheduled through a calendaring system. For each
meeting, the information can describe one or more meeting
organizers, attendees (e.g., required attendees, and optional
attendees), location(s), time period, resources requested (e.g.,
one or more conference rooms, desks, tables, meeting areas or
platforms, projectors, computing resources, etc.), to name some
examples. In some implementations, the at least one data store 108
can store information associated with the social networking system
(e.g., the social networking system 630 of FIG. 6). The information
associated with the social networking system can include data about
users, social connections, social interactions, locations,
geo-fenced areas, maps, places, events, pages, groups, posts,
communications, content, feeds, account settings, privacy settings,
a social graph, and various other types of data. In some
implementations, the at least one data store 108 can store
information associated with users, such as user identifiers, user
information, profile information, user specified settings, content
produced or posted by users, and various other types of user
data.
[0028] The calendar module 102 can be configured to interact with a
calendaring system through which meetings can be scheduled. The
calendaring system can maintain a separate calendar for each user
and also a separate calendar for each resource that is available to
be reserved through the calendaring system. The meeting scheduling
module 104 can schedule meetings through the calendaring system
based in part on parameters that were specified by meeting
organizers. For example, a meeting organizer may use a software
application running on a computing device to create, or schedule, a
meeting through the calendaring system. To create a meeting, the
meeting organizer can provide the names (e.g., e-mail addresses) of
any required and/or optional attendees to be invited to the
meeting, the meeting time period, dial-in information for invitees
that will be teleconferencing, one or more locations at which the
meeting is to be held, and the types of resources that are needed
for the meeting (e.g., one or more conference rooms, desks, tables,
meeting areas, etc.). Assuming the resources requested for the
meeting are available, the meeting scheduling module 104 can
interact with the calendaring system to create a calendar event
based in part on the specified parameters. Once the meeting has
been created, the calendaring system will typically add the
calendar event in the calendar of the meeting organizer(s). Users
that were specified as attendees of the meeting will typically
receive electronic invitations for the meeting. Once these
invitations are accepted, the calendar event will typically be
inserted in the calendars of each of the users that accepted the
meeting invite. Further, the calendaring system can also add the
calendar event in the respective calendars of any resources (e.g.,
conference rooms) that were reserved when creating the meeting.
[0029] The meeting cleanup module 106 is configured to determine
whether resources, e.g., conference rooms, that were reserved for
meetings scheduled through the calendaring system are not being
used during the scheduled meeting time. The meeting cleanup module
106 can then release such unused resources so that other users can
reserve and use them. More details regarding the meeting cleanup
module 106 will be provided below with reference to FIG. 2.
[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a meeting cleanup module
202 configured to release unused resources, according to an
embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the
meeting cleanup module 106 of FIG. 1 can be implemented as the
meeting cleanup module 202. As shown in FIG. 2, the meeting cleanup
module 202 can include a meeting activity module 204 and a cleanup
module 206.
[0031] The meeting activity module 204 is configured to determine
whether resources that were reserved for a meeting are being
utilized during the scheduled meeting time. More details regarding
the meeting activity module 204 will be provided below with
reference to FIG. 3.
[0032] The cleanup module 206 is configured to release any
resources that were booked for meetings and that are not being
utilized during the respective scheduled meeting times. In various
embodiments, the cleanup module 206 can release resources that were
reserved for a meeting by removing the calendar event that
references the meeting from the calendar of the resource. As a
result, the calendar of the resource no longer indicates that the
resource is reserved during the time at which the meeting was
scheduled. Other implementations are possible. For example, the
cleanup module 206 may release reserved resources by interacting
with the calendaring system to request cancellation of the meeting
for which the resources were reserved. In some embodiments, the
meeting cleanup module 202 may send one or more notifications to
other users (e.g., a waitlisted user that previously requested a
resource) when a resource has been released.
[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a meeting activity module
302, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some
embodiments, the meeting activity module 204 of FIG. 2 can be
implemented as the meeting activity module 302. As shown in FIG. 3,
the meeting activity module 302 can include a motion sensor module
304, a visual analysis module 306, and a confirmation module
308.
[0034] In various embodiments, the meeting activity module 302 can
determine any resources that have been reserved through a
calendaring system as well as information describing the respective
meeting(s) for which the resources were reserved. For example, the
meeting activity module 302 can determine that a conference room
was reserved for a meeting that is scheduled for a certain day over
some period of time. Such information may be obtained, for example,
from calendar events that are included in the respective calendars
of the resources. The meeting activity module 302 may be invoked
each time a meeting is scheduled to begin and/or within some
threshold amount of time after the meeting has begun (e.g., 5
minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.). For example, a meeting may
be scheduled to begin on a certain day at 1:00 pm and last until
2:00 pm. In this example, the meeting activity module 302 can be
invoked at 1:00 pm and/or 1:10 pm on that day. In some instances,
the meeting activity module may be invoked periodically (e.g.,
every 5, 10, 15 minutes) throughout the period of time for which a
meeting is scheduled. In such instances, any resources that were
reserved for a meeting that ends early can be released before the
meeting's originally scheduled end time. When invoked, the meeting
activity module 302 can determine whether resources that were
reserved for a meeting are being utilized. For example, when
invoked, in some embodiments, the meeting activity module 302 can
determine whether a resource is being utilized by invoking the
motion sensor module 304, the visual analysis module 306, and/or
the confirmation module 308. Any resources that are not being used
for the meeting can be released. As a result, resources, such as
conference rooms, that are reserved for unattended meetings can be
reclaimed in a timely manner and be made available to other users
for use. In some embodiments, when the resource being released is a
room (e.g., conference room, meeting room, etc.), then any other
resources (e.g., projectors, computing devices, media carts, etc.)
that are housed, or located, in the room are also automatically
released.
[0035] Depending on the implementation, the motion sensor module
304, the visual analysis module 306, and the confirmation module
308 may be used to determine whether a resource is being utilized
either independently or in conjunction with one another. Thus, the
motion sensor module 304, the visual analysis module 306, and the
confirmation module 308 need not all be used to determine whether a
resource is being utilized. For example, only the motion sensor
module 304 and the confirmation module 308, or some other
combination of the modules, may be used to determine whether a
resource is being utilized. If the motion sensor module 304, the
visual analysis module 306, and/or the confirmation module 308 are
used in conjunction, then the order in which the modules are used
can vary depending on the implementation.
[0036] In some embodiments, the motion sensor module 304 can be
configured to determine whether any motion is detected in, or
within some threshold radius (or distance) of, resources. For
example, one or more motion sensors may be configured to detect the
presence of individuals inside of a conference room. In this
example, the motion sensor module 304 can determine, based at least
in part on information captured by the motion sensors, whether any
motion was detected inside of the conference room at a given time
or during a period of time.
[0037] The visual analysis module 306 can be configured to visually
determine whether resources are being utilized. In various
embodiments, the visual analysis module 306 can access an image
capture device (e.g., cameras installed in a video conferencing
device) that is configured to capture images of a given resource.
For example, a camera may be positioned to capture images of the
inside of a conference room. In this example, the visual analysis
module 306 can analyze images captured of the inside of the
conference room to determine the presence of any individuals within
the conference room. For example, the visual analysis module 306
can determine the presence of individuals by applying one or more
face detection techniques to a captured image. In some embodiments,
the visual analysis module 306 can divide the captured image into a
set of overlapping subdivisions (e.g., 2.times.3 overlapping
subdivisions) and can perform the face detection techniques
individually on each subdivision of the captured image. In some
embodiments, captured content (e.g., the captured image or in one
or more overlapping subdivisions of the captured image) can be
analyzed to determine the presence of individuals using a machine
learning model (image classifier). The image classifier can be
trained to predict a likelihood that at least one individual is
present in the captured content. In such embodiments, the image
classifier can be trained using training data that includes a
sample set of images. The image classifier can be based on any
machine learning technique, including but not limited to a deep
convolutional neural network. In various embodiments, the visual
analysis module 306 can be configured to determine the presence of
individuals and not necessarily the identity of such
individuals.
[0038] The confirmation module 308 can be configured to determine
whether a resource is being used for a meeting by sending one or
more notifications or prompts. As mentioned, the meeting activity
module 302 can invoke the confirmation module 308 when a meeting
begins, at certain intervals during the meeting, and/or when
attempting to determine whether a resource is being used for a
meeting. In various embodiments, when invoked, the confirmation
module 308 can send one or more messages, or prompts, to the
meeting participants (e.g., meeting organizer(s) and/or meeting
invitees) to confirm that at least one individual is present at the
scheduled meeting. Such prompts may be communicated to individuals,
for example, by e-mail, instant message, message (e.g., text
message, SMS message, etc.) to a mobile device of the participant,
or any other messaging protocol. In some embodiments, such prompts
are sent as messages through a social networking system. In some
embodiments, such prompts may be presented through one or more
communication devices (e.g., a display screen of a video
conferencing system, a display screen of a phone system, etc.) that
are located at, or inside of, the resource. For example, a
conference room may include a phone system that has a display
screen through which messages can be displayed. In this example, to
determine that the conference room is being used, the confirmation
module 308 can cause a prompt (e.g., "Is the meeting still in
progress?" or "Are you still using the conference room?") to be
presented on the display screen of the phone system. An individual
that is present in the conference room can be instructed to respond
to the prompt by selecting a key (e.g., "yes" button) through the
communication device. Any responses provided for the prompts may be
used by the confirmation module 308 to determine that the resource
is being used.
[0039] FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram 400 for managing
resource reservations, according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can be
additional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar or
alternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the various
embodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated. At block 402,
a resource (e.g., conference room) that has been reserved for a
meeting is identified. As mentioned, such resources can be
evaluated to determine whether the resource is actually being used
for the scheduled meeting. This determination can be made, for
example, at the time the meeting is scheduled to begin or after a
certain amount of time has elapsed after the meeting start time. At
block 404, a determination is made whether any resources contained,
or assigned, to the identified resource (e.g., conference room) are
in use. In one example, a determination is made as to whether a
video conferencing unit in the identified resource is active. If
the video conferencing unit is active, then the reservation for the
identified resource is held, as indicated by block 414. If the
video conferencing unit is inactive, then a determination can be
made as to whether there is any activity in the identified
resource, as indicated by block 406. In some embodiments, if none
of the resources contained, or assigned to, the identified resource
(e.g., conference room) are being used, then the resource is
released, as indicated by block 412. At block 406, a determination
is made whether any activity (e.g., motion) is sensed at, or inside
of, the resource. In one example, the resource may be a conference
room and one or more sensors may be installed to detect activity
inside of the conference room. In some embodiments, if motion is
detected inside of the conference room, then the reservation for
the resource is held, as indicated by block 414. If no motion is
detected, then one or more images of the resource can be captured
and such images can be analyzed to determine whether any entities,
or individuals, are present, as indicated by block 408. For
example, if the resource is a conference room, then an imaging
apparatus can capture one or more images of the inside of the
conference room and such images can be analyzed, for example, using
a trained classifier, to determine the presence of individuals. If
the presence of individuals is determined, then the reservation for
the resource is held, as indicated by block 414. If individuals are
determined not to be present, then one or more confirmation prompts
can be sent, for example, to the meeting organizer(s) and/or
meeting invitees, as described above, as indicated by block 410. If
at least one confirmation is received in response to a prompt, then
the reservation for the resource is held, as indicated by block
414. However, if no confirmation is received, then the resource is
released, as indicated by block 412. The resource can be released
through a calendaring system through which the resource was
reserved. Once released, the resource is made available for
reservation by other users.
[0040] FIG. 5 illustrates another example process 500 for managing
resource reservations. It should be appreciated that there can be
additional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar or
alternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the various
embodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated. At block 502,
a meeting for which at least one resource has been reserved for a
period of time is determined, the meeting having been scheduled
through a calendaring system. At block 504, a determination is made
whether the at least one resource is being used for the meeting at
a time within the period of time for which the meeting was
scheduled. At block 506, the reservation for the at least one
resource is canceled upon determining that the resource is not
being used for the meeting, wherein the resource is then made
available for reservation for a different meeting.
[0041] It is contemplated that there can be many other uses,
applications, and/or variations associated with the various
embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, in some cases,
user can choose whether or not to opt-in to utilize the disclosed
technology. The disclosed technology can also ensure that various
privacy settings and preferences are maintained and can prevent
private information from being divulged. In another example,
various embodiments of the present disclosure can learn, improve,
and/or be refined over time.
Social Networking System--Example Implementation
[0042] FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system
600 that can be utilized in various scenarios, in accordance with
an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system 600 includes
one or more user devices 610, one or more external systems 620, a
social networking system (or service) 630, and a network 650. In an
embodiment, the social networking service, provider, and/or system
discussed in connection with the embodiments described above may be
implemented as the social networking system 630. For purposes of
illustration, the embodiment of the system 600, shown by FIG. 6,
includes a single external system 620 and a single user device 610.
However, in other embodiments, the system 600 may include more user
devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. In certain
embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by a
social network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are
separate from the social networking system 630 in that they may be
operated by different entities. In various embodiments, however,
the social networking system 630 and the external systems 620
operate in conjunction to provide social networking services to
users (or members) of the social networking system 630. In this
sense, the social networking system 630 provides a platform or
backbone, which other systems, such as external systems 620, may
use to provide social networking services and functionalities to
users across the Internet.
[0043] The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices
(or systems) that can receive input from a user and transmit and
receive data via the network 650. In one embodiment, the user
device 610 is a conventional computer system executing, for
example, a Microsoft Windows compatible operating system (OS),
Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. In another embodiment, the
user device 610 can be a computing device or a device having
computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal
digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a laptop computer, a
wearable device (e.g., a pair of glasses, a watch, a bracelet,
etc.), a camera, an appliance, etc. The user device 610 is
configured to communicate via the network 650. The user device 610
can execute an application, for example, a browser application that
allows a user of the user device 610 to interact with the social
networking system 630. In another embodiment, the user device 610
interacts with the social networking system 630 through an
application programming interface (API) provided by the native
operating system of the user device 610, such as iOS and ANDROID.
The user device 610 is configured to communicate with the external
system 620 and the social networking system 630 via the network
650, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide
area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication
systems.
[0044] In one embodiment, the network 650 uses standard
communications technologies and protocols. Thus, the network 650
can include links using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11,
worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G,
CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Similarly, the
networking protocols used on the network 650 can include
multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP),
hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol
(SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The data
exchanged over the network 650 can be represented using
technologies and/or formats including hypertext markup language
(HTML) and extensible markup language (XML). In addition, all or
some links can be encrypted using conventional encryption
technologies such as secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer
security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security (IPsec).
[0045] In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content
from the external system 620 and/or from the social networking
system 630 by processing a markup language document 614 received
from the external system 620 and from the social networking system
630 using a browser application 612. The markup language document
614 identifies content and one or more instructions describing
formatting or presentation of the content. By executing the
instructions included in the markup language document 614, the
browser application 612 displays the identified content using the
format or presentation described by the markup language document
614. For example, the markup language document 614 includes
instructions for generating and displaying a web page having
multiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from
the external system 620 and the social networking system 630. In
various embodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a
data file including extensible markup language (XML) data,
extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, or other markup
language data. Additionally, the markup language document 614 may
include JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding
(JSONP), and JavaScript data to facilitate data-interchange between
the external system 620 and the user device 610. The browser
application 612 on the user device 610 may use a JavaScript
compiler to decode the markup language document 614.
[0046] The markup language document 614 may also include, or link
to, applications or application frameworks such as FLASH.TM. or
Unity.TM. applications, the Silverlight.TM. application framework,
etc.
[0047] In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or
more cookies 616 including data indicating whether a user of the
user device 610 is logged into the social networking system 630,
which may enable modification of the data communicated from the
social networking system 630 to the user device 610.
[0048] The external system 620 includes one or more web servers
that include one or more web pages 622a, 622b, which are
communicated to the user device 610 using the network 650. The
external system 620 is separate from the social networking system
630. For example, the external system 620 is associated with a
first domain, while the social networking system 630 is associated
with a separate social networking domain. Web pages 622a, 622b,
included in the external system 620, comprise markup language
documents 614 identifying content and including instructions
specifying formatting or presentation of the identified content. As
discussed previously, it should be appreciated that there can be
many variations or other possibilities.
[0049] The social networking system 630 includes one or more
computing devices for a social network, including a plurality of
users, and providing users of the social network with the ability
to communicate and interact with other users of the social network.
In some instances, the social network can be represented by a
graph, i.e., a data structure including edges and nodes. Other data
structures can also be used to represent the social network,
including but not limited to databases, objects, classes, meta
elements, files, or any other data structure. The social networking
system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by an
operator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be a
human being, an automated application, or a series of applications
for managing content, regulating policies, and collecting usage
metrics within the social networking system 630. Any type of
operator may be used.
[0050] Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add
connections to any number of other users of the social networking
system 630 to whom they desire to be connected. As used herein, the
term "friend" refers to any other user of the social networking
system 630 to whom a user has formed a connection, association, or
relationship via the social networking system 630. For example, in
an embodiment, if users in the social networking system 630 are
represented as nodes in the social graph, the term "friend" can
refer to an edge formed between and directly connecting two user
nodes.
[0051] Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be
automatically created by the social networking system 630 based on
common characteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of
the same educational institution). For example, a first user
specifically selects a particular other user to be a friend.
Connections in the social networking system 630 are usually in both
directions, but need not be, so the terms "user" and "friend"
depend on the frame of reference. Connections between users of the
social networking system 630 are usually bilateral ("two-way"), or
"mutual," but connections may also be unilateral, or "one-way." For
example, if Bob and Joe are both users of the social networking
system 630 and connected to each other, Bob and Joe are each
other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes to connect
to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system
630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, a
unilateral connection may be established. The connection between
users may be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the
social networking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect
via one or more levels of connections or degrees of separation.
[0052] In addition to establishing and maintaining connections
between users and allowing interactions between users, the social
networking system 630 provides users with the ability to take
actions on various types of items supported by the social
networking system 630. These items may include groups or networks
(i.e., social networks of people, entities, and concepts) to which
users of the social networking system 630 may belong, events or
calendar entries in which a user might be interested,
computer-based applications that a user may use via the social
networking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sell
items via services provided by or through the social networking
system 630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may
perform on or off the social networking system 630. These are just
a few examples of the items upon which a user may act on the social
networking system 630, and many others are possible. A user may
interact with anything that is capable of being represented in the
social networking system 630 or in the external system 620,
separate from the social networking system 630, or coupled to the
social networking system 630 via the network 650.
[0053] The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking
a variety of entities. For example, the social networking system
630 enables users to interact with each other as well as external
systems 620 or other entities through an API, a web service, or
other communication channels. The social networking system 630
generates and maintains the "social graph" comprising a plurality
of nodes interconnected by a plurality of edges. Each node in the
social graph may represent an entity that can act on another node
and/or that can be acted on by another node. The social graph may
include various types of nodes. Examples of types of nodes include
users, non-person entities, content items, web pages, groups,
activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can be
represented by an object in the social networking system 630. An
edge between two nodes in the social graph may represent a
particular kind of connection, or association, between the two
nodes, which may result from node relationships or from an action
that was performed by one of the nodes on the other node. In some
cases, the edges between nodes can be weighted. The weight of an
edge can represent an attribute associated with the edge, such as a
strength of the connection or association between nodes. Different
types of edges can be provided with different weights. For example,
an edge created when one user "likes" another user may be given one
weight, while an edge created when a user befriends another user
may be given a different weight.
[0054] As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as
a friend, an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a
node representing the first user and a second node representing the
second user. As various nodes relate or interact with each other,
the social networking system 630 modifies edges connecting the
various nodes to reflect the relationships and interactions.
[0055] The social networking system 630 also includes
user-generated content, which enhances a user's interactions with
the social networking system 630. User-generated content may
include anything a user can add, upload, send, or "post" to the
social networking system 630. For example, a user communicates
posts to the social networking system 630 from a user device 610.
Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual
data, location information, images such as photos, videos, links,
music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also be added
to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content
"items" are represented as objects in the social networking system
630. In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are
encouraged to communicate with each other by posting text and
content items of various types of media through various
communication channels. Such communication increases the
interaction of users with each other and increases the frequency
with which users interact with the social networking system
630.
[0056] The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632,
an API request server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection
store 638, an action logger 640, an activity log 642, and an
authorization server 644. In an embodiment of the invention, the
social networking system 630 may include additional, fewer, or
different components for various applications. Other components,
such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers,
failover servers, management and network operations consoles, and
the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the
system.
[0057] The user profile store 636 maintains information about user
accounts, including biographic, demographic, and other types of
descriptive information, such as work experience, educational
history, hobbies or preferences, location, and the like that has
been declared by users or inferred by the social networking system
630. This information is stored in the user profile store 636 such
that each user is uniquely identified. The social networking system
630 also stores data describing one or more connections between
different users in the connection store 638. The connection
information may indicate users who have similar or common work
experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educational history.
Additionally, the social networking system 630 includes
user-defined connections between different users, allowing users to
specify their relationships with other users. For example,
user-defined connections allow users to generate relationships with
other users that parallel the users' real-life relationships, such
as friends, co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select
from predefined types of connections, or define their own
connection types as needed. Connections with other nodes in the
social networking system 630, such as non-person entities, buckets,
cluster centers, images, interests, pages, external systems,
concepts, and the like are also stored in the connection store
638.
[0058] The social networking system 630 maintains data about
objects with which a user may interact. To maintain this data, the
user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 store instances
of the corresponding type of objects maintained by the social
networking system 630. Each object type has information fields that
are suitable for storing information appropriate to the type of
object. For example, the user profile store 636 contains data
structures with fields suitable for describing a user's account and
information related to a user's account. When a new object of a
particular type is created, the social networking system 630
initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns
a unique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the
object as needed. This might occur, for example, when a user
becomes a user of the social networking system 630, the social
networking system 630 generates a new instance of a user profile in
the user profile store 636, assigns a unique identifier to the user
account, and begins to populate the fields of the user account with
information provided by the user.
[0059] The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable
for describing a user's connections to other users, connections to
external systems 620 or connections to other entities. The
connection store 638 may also associate a connection type with a
user's connections, which may be used in conjunction with the
user's privacy setting to regulate access to information about the
user. In an embodiment of the invention, the user profile store 636
and the connection store 638 may be implemented as a federated
database.
[0060] Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile
store 636, and the activity log 642 enables the social networking
system 630 to generate the social graph that uses nodes to identify
various objects and edges connecting nodes to identify
relationships between different objects. For example, if a first
user establishes a connection with a second user in the social
networking system 630, user accounts of the first user and the
second user from the user profile store 636 may act as nodes in the
social graph. The connection between the first user and the second
user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge between the
nodes associated with the first user and the second user.
Continuing this example, the second user may then send the first
user a message within the social networking system 630. The action
of sending the message, which may be stored, is another edge
between the two nodes in the social graph representing the first
user and the second user. Additionally, the message itself may be
identified and included in the social graph as another node
connected to the nodes representing the first user and the second
user.
[0061] In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an
image that is maintained by the social networking system 630 (or,
alternatively, in an image maintained by another system outside of
the social networking system 630). The image may itself be
represented as a node in the social networking system 630. This
tagging action may create edges between the first user and the
second user as well as create an edge between each of the users and
the image, which is also a node in the social graph. In yet another
example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user and the
event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where the
attendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may be
retrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining
the social graph, the social networking system 630 includes data
describing many different types of objects and the interactions and
connections among those objects, providing a rich source of
socially relevant information.
[0062] The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to
one or more user devices 610 and/or one or more external systems
620 via the network 650. The web server 632 serves web pages, as
well as other web-related content, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash,
XML, and so forth. The web server 632 may include a mail server or
other messaging functionality for receiving and routing messages
between the social networking system 630 and one or more user
devices 610. The messages can be instant messages, queued messages
(e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or any other suitable
messaging format.
[0063] The API request server 634 allows one or more external
systems 620 and user devices 610 to call access information from
the social networking system 630 by calling one or more API
functions. The API request server 634 may also allow external
systems 620 to send information to the social networking system 630
by calling APIs. The external system 620, in one embodiment, sends
an API request to the social networking system 630 via the network
650, and the API request server 634 receives the API request. The
API request server 634 processes the request by calling an API
associated with the API request to generate an appropriate
response, which the API request server 634 communicates to the
external system 620 via the network 650. For example, responsive to
an API request, the API request server 634 collects data associated
with a user, such as the user's connections that have logged into
the external system 620, and communicates the collected data to the
external system 620. In another embodiment, the user device 610
communicates with the social networking system 630 via APIs in the
same manner as external systems 620.
[0064] The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications
from the web server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social
networking system 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity
log 642 with information about user actions, enabling the social
networking system 630 to discover various actions taken by its
users within the social networking system 630 and outside of the
social networking system 630. Any action that a particular user
takes with respect to another node on the social networking system
630 may be associated with each user's account, through information
maintained in the activity log 642 or in a similar database or
other data repository. Examples of actions taken by a user within
the social networking system 630 that are identified and stored may
include, for example, adding a connection to another user, sending
a message to another user, reading a message from another user,
viewing content associated with another user, attending an event
posted by another user, posting an image, attempting to post an
image, or other actions interacting with another user or another
object. When a user takes an action within the social networking
system 630, the action is recorded in the activity log 642. In one
embodiment, the social networking system 630 maintains the activity
log 642 as a database of entries. When an action is taken within
the social networking system 630, an entry for the action is added
to the activity log 642. The activity log 642 may be referred to as
an action log.
[0065] Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts
and actions that occur within an entity outside of the social
networking system 630, such as an external system 620 that is
separate from the social networking system 630. For example, the
action logger 640 may receive data describing a user's interaction
with an external system 620 from the web server 632. In this
example, the external system 620 reports a user's interaction
according to structured actions and objects in the social
graph.
[0066] Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an
external system 620 include a user expressing an interest in an
external system 620 or another entity, a user posting a comment to
the social networking system 630 that discusses an external system
620 or a web page 622a within the external system 620, a user
posting to the social networking system 630 a Uniform Resource
Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with an external
system 620, a user attending an event associated with an external
system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to an
external system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actions
describing interactions between a user of the social networking
system 630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the
social networking system 630.
[0067] The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy
settings of the users of the social networking system 630. A
privacy setting of a user determines how particular information
associated with a user can be shared. The privacy setting comprises
the specification of particular information associated with a user
and the specification of the entity or entities with whom the
information can be shared. Examples of entities with which
information can be shared may include other users, applications,
external systems 620, or any entity that can potentially access the
information. The information that can be shared by a user comprises
user account information, such as profile photos, phone numbers
associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken by the
user such as adding a connection, changing user profile
information, and the like.
[0068] The privacy setting specification may be provided at
different levels of granularity. For example, the privacy setting
may identify specific information to be shared with other users;
the privacy setting identifies a work phone number or a specific
set of related information, such as, personal information including
profile photo, home phone number, and status. Alternatively, the
privacy setting may apply to all the information associated with
the user. The specification of the set of entities that can access
particular information can also be specified at various levels of
granularity. Various sets of entities with which information can be
shared may include, for example, all friends of the user, all
friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems 620.
One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities to
comprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may
provide a list of external systems 620 that are allowed to access
certain information. Another embodiment allows the specification to
comprise a set of entities along with exceptions that are not
allowed to access the information. For example, a user may allow
all external systems 620 to access the user's work information, but
specify a list of external systems 620 that are not allowed to
access the work information. Certain embodiments call the list of
exceptions that are not allowed to access certain information a
"block list". External systems 620 belonging to a block list
specified by a user are blocked from accessing the information
specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations of
granularity of specification of information, and granularity of
specification of entities, with which information is shared are
possible. For example, all personal information may be shared with
friends whereas all work information may be shared with friends of
friends.
[0069] The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if
certain information associated with a user can be accessed by a
user's friends, external systems 620, and/or other applications and
entities. The external system 620 may need authorization from the
authorization server 644 to access the user's more private and
sensitive information, such as the user's work phone number. Based
on the user's privacy settings, the authorization server 644
determines if another user, the external system 620, an
application, or another entity is allowed to access information
associated with the user, including information about actions taken
by the user.
[0070] In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can
include a calendar module module 646. The calendar module 646 can,
for example, be implemented as the calendar module 102 of FIG. 1.
As discussed previously, it should be appreciated that there can be
many variations or other possibilities.
Hardware Implementation
[0071] The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a
wide variety of machine and computer system architectures and in a
wide variety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7
illustrates an example of a computer system 700 that may be used to
implement one or more of the embodiments described herein in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The computer system
700 includes sets of instructions for causing the computer system
700 to perform the processes and features discussed herein. The
computer system 700 may be connected (e.g., networked) to other
machines. In a networked deployment, the computer system 700 may
operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in
a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a
peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. In an embodiment
of the invention, the computer system 700 may be the social
networking system 630, the user device 610, and the external system
720, or a component thereof. In an embodiment of the invention, the
computer system 700 may be one server among many that constitutes
all or part of the social networking system 630.
[0072] The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache
704, and one or more executable modules and drivers, stored on a
computer-readable medium, directed to the processes and features
described herein. Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a
high performance input/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus
708. A host bridge 710 couples processor 702 to high performance
I/O bus 706, whereas I/O bus bridge 712 couples the two buses 706
and 708 to each other. A system memory 714 and one or more network
interfaces 716 couple to high performance I/O bus 706. The computer
system 700 may further include video memory and a display device
coupled to the video memory (not shown). Mass storage 718 and I/O
ports 720 couple to the standard I/O bus 708. The computer system
700 may optionally include a keyboard and pointing device, a
display device, or other input/output devices (not shown) coupled
to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elements are
intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware
systems, including but not limited to computer systems based on the
x86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of
Santa Clara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured
by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as
well as any other suitable processor.
[0073] An operating system manages and controls the operation of
the computer system 700, including the input and output of data to
and from software applications (not shown). The operating system
provides an interface between the software applications being
executed on the system and the hardware components of the system.
Any suitable operating system may be used, such as the LINUX
Operating System, the Apple Macintosh Operating System, available
from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIX operating
systems, Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM. operating systems, BSD
operating systems, and the like. Other implementations are
possible.
[0074] The elements of the computer system 700 are described in
greater detail below. In particular, the network interface 716
provides communication between the computer system 700 and any of a
wide range of networks, such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3)
network, a backplane, etc. The mass storage 718 provides permanent
storage for the data and programming instructions to perform the
above-described processes and features implemented by the
respective computing systems identified above, whereas the system
memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storage for the data and
programming instructions when executed by the processor 702. The
I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallel
communication ports that provide communication between additional
peripheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system
700.
[0075] The computer system 700 may include a variety of system
architectures, and various components of the computer system 700
may be rearranged. For example, the cache 704 may be on-chip with
processor 702. Alternatively, the cache 704 and the processor 702
may be packed together as a "processor module", with processor 702
being referred to as the "processor core". Furthermore, certain
embodiments of the invention may neither require nor include all of
the above components. For example, peripheral devices coupled to
the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to the high performance I/O bus
706. In addition, in some embodiments, only a single bus may exist,
with the components of the computer system 700 being coupled to the
single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 may include
additional components, such as additional processors, storage
devices, or memories.
[0076] In general, the processes and features described herein may
be implemented as part of an operating system or a specific
application, component, program, object, module, or series of
instructions referred to as "programs". For example, one or more
programs may be used to execute specific processes described
herein. The programs typically comprise one or more instructions in
various memory and storage devices in the computer system 700 that,
when read and executed by one or more processors, cause the
computer system 700 to perform operations to execute the processes
and features described herein. The processes and features described
herein may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware (e.g., an
application specific integrated circuit), or any combination
thereof.
[0077] In one implementation, the processes and features described
herein are implemented as a series of executable modules run by the
computer system 700, individually or collectively in a distributed
computing environment. The foregoing modules may be realized by
hardware, executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium
(or machine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For
example, the modules may comprise a plurality or series of
instructions to be executed by a processor in a hardware system,
such as the processor 702. Initially, the series of instructions
may be stored on a storage device, such as the mass storage 718.
However, the series of instructions can be stored on any suitable
computer readable storage medium. Furthermore, the series of
instructions need not be stored locally, and could be received from
a remote storage device, such as a server on a network, via the
network interface 716. The instructions are copied from the storage
device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714
and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In various
implementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor
or multiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as
multiple servers in a parallel processing environment.
[0078] Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not
limited to, recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile
memory devices; solid state memories; floppy and other removable
disks; hard disk drives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g.,
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks
(DVDs)); other similar non-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or
non-tangible) storage medium; or any type of medium suitable for
storing, encoding, or carrying a series of instructions for
execution by the computer system 700 to perform any one or more of
the processes and features described herein.
[0079] For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are
set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the
description. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the
art that embodiments of the disclosure can be practiced without
these specific details. In some instances, modules, structures,
processes, features, and devices are shown in block diagram form in
order to avoid obscuring the description. In other instances,
functional block diagrams and flow diagrams are shown to represent
data and logic flows. The components of block diagrams and flow
diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices, features,
etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed, reordered, and
replaced in a manner other than as expressly described and depicted
herein.
[0080] Reference in this specification to "one embodiment", "an
embodiment", "other embodiments", "one series of embodiments",
"some embodiments", "various embodiments", or the like means that a
particular feature, design, structure, or characteristic described
in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one
embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of, for example, the
phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places
in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same
embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually
exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whether or not there is
express reference to an "embodiment" or the like, various features
are described, which may be variously combined and included in some
embodiments, but also variously omitted in other embodiments.
Similarly, various features are described that may be preferences
or requirements for some embodiments, but not other
embodiments.
[0081] The language used herein has been principally selected for
readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been
selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.
It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited
not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that
issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure
of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative,
but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth
in the following claims.
* * * * *